EPSEM Sample

Sampling involves the selection of a portion of the population being studied. In probability sampling, each element in the population has a known, nonzero chance of being selected through the use of a random selection procedure. EPSEM refers to an equal probability of selection method. It is not a specific sampling method such as systematic sampling, stratified sampling, or multi-stage sampling. Rather it refers to the application of a sampling technique that results in the population elements having equal probabilities of being included in the sample. EPSEM samples are self-weigh ting; that is, the reciprocal of the probability of selection of each element in the selected sample is the same. Thus the base sampling weighting for each selected element in the sample is a constant ...